Superheater for furnaces



Sept. 11, 1951 R. s. STRAHAN SUPER-HEATER FOR FURNACES AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 18, 1948 Patented Sept. 11, 1951 "SUPER-' HE'ATER FOR FURNACES "AND THE LIKE Robert S. Strahan, Watertown, Mass.

Application February 18, 1948,1'Sei'iaI No.9,285

My invention relates to improvements in superheaters for furnaces or boilers which are fired by oil burners of the forceddraft type andthe objects of myinvention are, firstyto radiate-someof the -heat in the *Waste gases of combustion after theyhave'done-their work in the furnace 'orboiler-and before passing them up' the chimney; second, to retard the flow of the gases of combustion in the furnace or boiler to afford more time to do their work; third, to radiate the heat of the waste gases of combustion into the floor of the house that is immediately above the furnace or the like thereby decreasing the period of time the oil burner is required to remain on in order to maintain the desired temperature of the house and to increase the period of time the oil burner is off, thereby to afford a decrease in the oil consumption of the burner, and lastly to prevent the injurious effects of an explosion or back-fire within the furnace or the like.

To these ends I have provided a tubular superheater made with an interiorly divided header or manifold whereof one chamber or compartment is adapted to be connected with the interior of the boiler or furnace and whereof another chamber or compartment is adapted to be connected with the chimney, one or more heat-radiating U-shaped tubes being provided through which the waste gases from the furnace pass from said first-mentioned compartment to said last-mentioned compartment. Also, in the preferred form of the invention means is provided which is operated automatically to open both compartments of the header or manifold to the outside atmosphere in the event of an explosion or back-fire within the furnace or boiler thereby to avoid the injurious effects of the same heretofore occurring.

.In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a furnace equipped with a superheater constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of the superheater shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the superheater showing the same equipped with a plurality of U-shaped tubes connecting the two compartments of the header or manifold.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, l represents a furnace, boiler or the like that is fired by a pressure oil burner 2. The gases of combustion pass from the furnace or the like I through a flue or takeoff 5 into the lower chamber or compartment I l of a header or manifold 4, the latter being interiorly divided by a horizontal partition as shown in Fig. 2 to'provideth'e sanlewith-alower chamber I l and an upper hamberflll.

Coupled at their opposite en'ds 1 to the header or manifold-'-4 are *a pluralityof o'utstanding U shaped tubes '3; one end 1 of *each tube=communieating with the -lower-chamber ofth'e imanifold 4 and the opposite en'd thereof with *the upper chamber of the manifold so that the exhaust gases entering the lower chamber ll from flue 5 pass through the tubes 3 into the upper chamber ID, the latter being made with an outlet connected by a flue 6 with a chimney l2. The hot gases passing through the tubes 3 heat the latter and said tubes radiate their heat to the surrounding atmosphere which in turn transmits its heat to the ceiling l4 of the room within which the furnace or boiler I is located, said ceiling being the floor of the room above it.

One wall of the header or manifold 4 is made with an outlet opening that is in communication with both chambers of the manifold 4 and this outlet opening is normally closed by a damper or valve 8 that is pivotally mounted at its upper end upon the header or manifold 4 and yieldingly held in its closed position by a weight I 6. In the event of an explosion or back fire within furnace or boiler l the damper or valve 8 is blown open thus preventing injurious pressures being created Within the furnace, flue 5, header or manifold 4 and tubes 3.

The chimney I2 is provided with the usual counterweighted automatic draft check l3 that is required on all oil burning installations.

The interiorly divided header or manifold together with the U-shaped tubes 3 are suspended from the ceiling I4 by hangers and the lower ends of two of these hangers are connected with a tube-supporting angle I5 that is provided with upstanding tube-separators 9 to hold the tubes in spaced-apart relationship.

The outlet opening that is controlled by the damper or valve 8 may also be utilized in cleaning out the two chambers of the manifold 4 when the damper or valve 8 is manually opened.

The elbows l9 connecting the outer ends of the tubes 3 are made removable from the latter for access in cleaning out the interior of the superheater.

It is obvious that my device is not applicable to a coal fired boiler or heater, as retarding the draft is detrimental to their proper function, while in an oil burner installation with a forced draft, retarding the flow of the gases of combustion is beneficial.

I am aware that heretofore superheaters of various types have been used directly in the path of the gases of combustion within the boiler or furnace itself, and have been directly connected with the fire box for utilizing more of the heat of combustion for various purposes, but I am not aware that a furnace or boiler which is fired by an oil burner has been connected to a U type superheater with a divided header which is entirely remote and independent from the furnace or boiler and from the path of the gases of combustion within the said furnace or boiler, or its fire box, has been arranged in the manner as herein described and illustrated for obtaining the three objectives as herein set forth in the second paragraph of this specification.

I claim:

A superheater for application to a furnace or the like, said superheater comprising a header divided interiorly by a horizontal partition to provide the same with upper and lower chambers, said lower chamber having an inlet provided in a wall of the latter to be connected with the gas outlet of the furnace or the like by a flue and said upper chamber having an outlet to be connected by a flue with a chimney; a plurality of U-shaped heat-radiating tubes connected at their opposite ends with said header, one end of 0.11eader in position to close said two second outlets, and means normally and yieldingly holding said valve in position against said header where it closes both of said second outlets so as to adapt the latter to be opened automatically by abnormally high pressure within the header.

ROBERT S. STRAHAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 857,795 Delph June 25, 1907 862,064 Delph July 30, 1907 1,547,781 Beers July 28, 1925 1,973,997 Roberts Sept. 18, 1934 

